Beyond the Blue
by FirecrackerCelica
Summary: Feelings were awakened during the aftermath of the events back in Thriller Bark, and during the two years of their separation as a crew, Zoro and Sanji reflected the earlier days of their journey. Zoro was in denial. Sanji was too oblivious.


**A/N: **Hi guys! This is my first work for the OP fandom! I hope y'all will like it and review the thing! It helps a lot.

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**_Chapter 1: Taking it Out_**

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Sanji is confusing.

One moment, he'd be all giddy and smiley around girls - _wait, _that's completely normal, considering _Sanji_\- but what bothered Zoro was that the stupid cook only treated him well when he just woke up from the recent injury he got in his head. Zoro apparently slept for a day and the crew mentioned how the cook never left his side until he woke up. That tugged the swordsman's heartstrings, to know that _the cook, the stupid, love-stuck ero-cook_ actually paid _attention _and as far as he could assume, he _cared. _That was _crazy! _Zoro almost thought that it wasn't him who bumped his head but the blond. There wasn't even anything remotely serious about his passing out, but to know Sanji didn't leave his side…

There might be some sort of miracle.

However, just in time when he was about to be a bit thankful to him, there he went with his usual flamboyant attitude that Zoro couldn't help but hate. Aside from his green hair, the cook couldn't seem to find anything else to be mad at Zoro. As far as the swordsman knew, the cook hated his guts; of course he did too, and with much extent than the blond. Everytime he flirts with girls, Zoro couldn't help but feel _annoyed_ that sometimes he only didn't snap at Sanji, but give the girls a glare. That would've been weird to their side to see, but never did Zoro become pretentious. If he hates it, he hates it. No more sugar coating, unlike that certain curlybrows.

How did it bother Zoro in the first place? Sanji could get laid for all he cared. Zoro wouldn't move an inch. But somehow, _just somehow_, whenever the stupid cook did that thing, Zoro was the first one to react. His mouth seemed to have its mind of its own that he wouldn't notice he had commented unless Sanji reacted. In the swordsman's opinion, that was incredibly _fucked. _Why the heck would he care?

Despite his inner turmoil and protest, Zoro wouldn't and _couldn't _do anything about it. He was supposed to be controlling his emotions, not the other way around.

This… thing was frustrating Zoro to the core. He needed a distraction, he had to be away from the blond's perimeter at all costs.

Zoro's heel clanked against the hard Adam wood of Sunny, his right hand clenched around the hilt of Shuusui. He had his eyes tightly closed, concentrating on the air around him. There were a few movements around, the temperature stirring every once in a while due to the sea breeze from the windows. He had always kept them slightly ajar for him to be alerted of anything unusual.

_One… Two… _Zoro counted mentally, feeling the soft breeze from his right and a tickling hot breeze from his left. He then raised his hand holding his sword diagonally, his free hand stretching from his side.

_Three! _

He swung his right hand, slashing the air before him with a blue spark. It stopped right before it could make a deeper cut on the Sunny's wall, eliciting a hiss from Zoro.

"_I still couldn't quite control this." _Zoro tilted the blade, just so the black blade reflected the sun peeking through the window. The new sword he got from Thriller Bark was still getting used to his grip. It was a lot heavier than the other two, and he obviously had to make up from its weight.

Just before he could release the breath he was holding, there was the source of his turmoil, standing casually with his leg crossed over the other, holding a plate on his hand with his lip chewing on an unlit cigarette.

"Oi! What are you doing here?!" Zoro barked, his voice cracking. There hadn't been any long casual conversation between them since their escape from Thriller Bark and his unfortunate experience with a certain Shichibukai. Adding to that unspoken distance that formed after those events was when Zoro slipped from the discarded oil from Franky and Usopp's works and hit his head. He certainly lost consciousness at that time, but he was also sure it wasn't serious at all, he might have slept in during his treatment. Chopper was still at his throat for almost a week now and if that was what the cook came for, he could go fuck himself.

"I'm here to bring food for the marimo, dumbass. Don't get your leaves tangled."

So he said that aloud.

"You haven't eaten for a day, I can't leave hungry stomachs, you know that." The cook flicked his head, untangling his legs as he walked towards the swordsman.

Zoro stared at the food served on the plate. As usual, it was his favorite, onigiri. He sure was hungry, and never before a simple onigiri became so mouthwatering.

The blond snickered, which made the swordsman turn his attention on him. Did by chance he blank out again? Zoro hoped not, he'd been bothered constantly by some crew members until he snapped them all with his glares.

"What's with that mug of yours, seaweed? Famished much?" The bastard flung his wrist, creating such an aimless distance between Zoro and the precious onigiri.

"Oi!" Zoro gritted his teeth, reaching pathetically for the plate. He hated making himself look like a fool before the stupid cook, but with his greatest weapon on his hand, the cook was always invincible.

The curly bastard just smiled.

Zoro swore he saw something bright and felt like a jelly. Maybe it was his hunger taking over him that he was _feeling _things he shouldn't.

"Give the damn food now, curlybrows!" He tried hard to sound threatening, yes he did. It was always working for everybody. Well, everybody _except_ the idiot before him.

Sanji brought the plate down to his chest level, smirking suggestively at him, as if trying to lure him to get the food. It looked so fucking _delicious_ and if he couldn't get his hands and mouth on it, he'd go insane.

"Have some manners, you marimo. Sit over there." Sanji pointed with his head, his expression changing like the weather. It puzzled Zoro ever slightly. The cook must have something to say if he was going like that. Not like the swordsman cared, of course.

"I don't take orders from you, cook." Sanji ignored him and just walked towards the short table. He heard a subtle snort from him, as he plopped himself on the floor, setting the plate on the table.

Zoro had been presented no choice but to oblige, or else he'd be getting more torture from the cook. He sat across him, making sure his katana were safe beside him. "Got something to say, cook? Be quick, I don't have the entire day to listen to your bullshit."

Sanji rolled his eye and pushed the plate towards Zoro. "Eat first, shitty swordsman. I made these for us to share."

The green haired man had his brows furrowed in confusion and surprise. Share? "You haven't eaten?" The words slipped his mouth, as he found a hint of embarrassment from the cook.

"Just get one, goddammit." Sanji growled lowly, biting the cigarette butt.

Zoro grabbed an onigiri, never leaving his gaze against the cook's. "Not because you're the cook, would you ignore your own meal, curly." He took a bite, flavor exploding in his mouth, as his eyes widened in instinct. He stopped an embarrassing sound from his throat, however.

There went a satisfied smile from the cook's features. "You skipped three meals, shitty marimo. You're now training _just_ after you fucking woke up, moss-for-brains."

Was that a _mother hen _behavior? Zoro was puzzled the nth time this day. "I slept, cook. I do that _everyday_. So what if I didn't wake up on time? That just means I-"

"Shut the fuck up, _Zoro_. This isn't about that I was just-"

It seemed like air caught the cook's throat, as he stopped right at the important part of his statement. Zoro's heart jumped out of short lived fury, but it died down instantly when the cook's eyes turned glossy, as if… _sad._ Zoro was never good at understanding others' emotions, but Sanji had always been predictable to the swordsman, as if he knew him from the back of his hand. This certain reaction from the cook was something new. Moreover, he stressed his name, he rarely did that and Zoro couldn't remember the time he was ever called by his name by him.

"... Don't you dare forget what happened back with Kuma."

There was threat behind that voice, that if he didn't comply, Zoro would definitely get a flying kick straight in the face. However, there was also some sort of tremble as the blond said it all. He could go as far as analyzing that as fear, even though it doesn't fit Sanji at all.

Kuma was a name he would never forget. He made Zoro realize that he was not strong enough to protect his captain. If he couldn't do that, he didn't deserve to be called a pirate at all, more so as Luffy's _nakama_. He deserved _none _of it. Zoro was definitely mad at himself for being weak. He clenched his jaw, as he turned away from Sanji.

"I had no choice, shit cook. I have reasons to knock your ass out cold." Zoro's heart clenched the moment his mind played the scene he dreaded once more. He unconsciously reached for his arm, as if Sanji was still holding it.

The cook bowed his head lowly, casting a shadow on his visible eye. He had his teeth clenched, and there was a faint sound from them. The cigarette he had from his lips fell off uselessly on the ground.

"Bullshit. I call bullshit, Zoro."

The swordsman tilted his head to see the cook. He was mad, that was sure, but what he didn't expect was the trail of tear on Sanji's cheek. Zoro almost dropped the onigiri he was holding as he shuffled from his seat.

"Oi, Sanji. Are you…?" Zoro reached out a hand, but was rejected harshly with a slap from the blond.

Piercing glossy blue eye stroke Zoro's heart, making him narrow his own pair. "I knew what I was doing, you didn't have to bear it alone!" Sanji bit his bottom lip hard, closing his eye and wiping it harshly.

Zoro's lips formed a thin line. "You were always like this, shit cook." The blond looked at him with disdain.

"What's that supposed to-"

"You were always ready to die, weren't you?" Zoro's low voice rumbled in his throat.

The cook looked like a deer caught in the headlight. He still held the fierce stare at Zoro, even though there were obvious dried tears on him.

"We're pirates, we're bound to die someday in our journey!" Sanji quickly recovered himself, raising his voice over Zoro's.

"That's not the point, you know it."

Silence was born between the two men, as the gentle breeze went fluttering their hairs as softly.

"I don't know what made you treat yourself like an emergency sacrifice, but I'm not buying it, shit cook. You're as important as everybody in the crew, stop selling yourself short." Zoro meant everything he said, he always did. Whatever made Sanji like that might pay the price one day for messing him up, but he could only do so much.

The blond rolled his eye, as he chewed in his cheek. "You're really stupid."

"That makes the two of us."

"And really selfish." Sanji added, their voices overlapping. Both narrowed their eyes with their statements, as another tension sparked between them.

The blond leaned against the wall behind him, closing his eye. "Your reason why you wouldn't let me die. What is it?"

Zoro bit another one from the onigiri, chewing a bit loudly than he intended to. "I don't want to. Nobody is dying in my behalf."

The cook chuckled, but it sounded more of a grumble. He stretched out a hand to grab his own share of onigiri, getting a bite himself. "That's why you are a marimo. Do I always have to water you? Perhaps you need it to think better."

Zoro gnarled at the blond, glaring at him. Throwing insults at each other was the scenario Zoro very much preferred. He always had his blood boil, like he was in an adrenaline rush, everytime he would start another pointless argument with Sanji. He could admit to himself that he found pleasure in it.

"Your reason why you badly wanted to die, shit cook." Zoro smirked victoriously, crossing his arms after he finished his onigiri in one last bite.

"That's not the entirety of it, moss head."

Zoro perked up, and he was pretty much sure he painted an unflattering confused expression then again. He looked at the cook carefully, taking notice how the light cast such a long shadow from his lashes under his eye. It sure made him look innocent and gentle and somehow, Zoro thought that he was seeing a different side of Sanji through that sight.

"I'm soon gonna be the biggest luggage the crew will ever have. Isn't it better for me to choose to lift it away?" Sanji was staring at him blankly and what Zoro hated was that he appeared _resolute. _It was as if he was born to do it. The damn bastard couldn't even get over the debt he had from his adoptive father. This reaction wasn't at all surprising.

"The fuck are you saying, cook?" Were the articulate words that came out from the swordsman's mouth.

Sanji paled in an instant, in a futile attempt to throw back a rebuttal. His mouth opened, but no voice came out. Instead, he just turned away and grunted. "Shitty marimo couldn't use his fucking brain for once," Zoro had heard him mutter almost breathlessly.

A strong pump of blood inside his chest erupted after seeing how quickly the change had gone to Sanji. Did he ask wrong? Should he stop pressing into the matter that the cook obviously was not so comfortable into talking? For once, Zoro didn't know what to do and all the thinking he did just wore him out. He was pinned into staring dumbfoundedly and seriously prayed to all those non existent gods to help him do something - _anything_.

"I-I can't." The cook was trembling. Rarely did he see him do that except when he was injured and stubbornly trying to stand up. Zoro didn't like the look at all and he was getting frustrated with how this was going.

"Oi, cook. If you don't wanna talk about it, don't. Talk to me when you're ready, not when you look like _shit."_

Sanji didn't seem to be listening, as he grabbed two handfuls of his hair. "I want to, but I just can't. This is all fucked."

"Oi, Sanji!" Zoro shuffled from his seat, heart pumping strongly behind his chest. The cook was definitely acting weird, and he didn't need to be a doctor to know that there was something wrong. He grabbed both of Sanji's wrists, taking them out in front of him. The blond refused to look at him in the eye, his field of vision roaming around to everything but Zoro's eyes.

"Look at me." The green haired man started softly, keeping his voice low. Eventually, the blond calmed down and his trembling faltered.

"It's okay if you don't tell me. I know you will when you're ready." Zoro looked at him in the eye, squeezing his hold of his wrists to assure he was still there. For a moment, Sanji looked lifeless as if he was drained of his blood. The swordsman was relieved to see him back, as the haze clouding his eye was gone.

Sanji put down his arms, as Zoro slowly pulled away. He kept his stern gaze at the blond, in case something happened again. "Oi, Marimo."

"Huh?" Zoro quickly replied, faster than he had to. Not that the cook noticed, though.

"Don't scare me like that again, you hear? Next time, it's me who'll kill you."

_I'll kill you first, shitty cook. _Zoro wanted to reply that, or, _That's sweet, you're scared. _But nothing came out of his mouth, as usual. He was never good with words, and his not-so-helpful brain shuts down when he needs it. He would always rather act on something or swing his blades to prove his point.

He managed a scoff, after all. "As if I'll die, shit cook."

That certain afternoon marked Zoro's heart, as it would probably remain plaguing his mind for the rest of the week or longer. Basically, the first time they had an actual conversation after Thriller Bark was that, and it was by far one of the most sincere talks they'd ever had. He was a master of poker faces, he had always been able to hold off an unemotional reaction for everything, but that time, a faint smile deserved to be pulled off.

"Oi, cook." Before Sanji walked off the Crow's nest to prepare for their dinner, Zoro decided to give him a valuable thing he found at the crook of the ship. The cook's brow twitched in anticipation, turning his body facing the swordsman.

Zoro slid his hand inside his haramaki, grabbing within his palm a small round object. "Here. Take this." He stretched out his hand, his head facing his left.

The object landed on Sanji's palm lightly after Zoro had released his hold of it. He heard the other guy softly gasp, as Zoro wore his default scowl.

"This…" Sanji picked the object delicately with his fingers, raising it to his eye level. The object was the gem the sisters Lina and Sayo made. It had an iridescent glow, the bright and pastel colors swirling around the spherical gem. "... the _gem! _You found it!" Sanji exclaimed, visible eye wide, amazement clearly painted on his face as if he didn't cry a while ago. The Cook was always good at masking his emotions and turning them into another feeling. He was a ball of complex emotions, after all. Zoro thought that Sanji could have five emotions at the same time, and that was why he could literally _spontaneously combust_ when he feels too much. He almost snickered at the thought.

Zoro found the gem at the corner of the crow's nest. For a while, the swordsman wondered how the hell the gem turned to be there when it fell out of Luffy's hold on the deck of Sunny. He stopped thinking about how it happened and just picked the thing up. Somehow, Sanji came into his mind first when he saw the thing. It resembled the Cook's eye when he stared at the sunset. Not that Zoro was looking at him, no _not at all_. He just noticed it _once_, how Sanji's grayish blue eye reflected the setting sun's light. And _no_, there was definitely _no way _he would tell the damn cook just that.

"Do whatever you want with that gem. Sell it, keep it. Give it to the girls. I don't care." Zoro turned away, crossing his arms. He _definitely _didn't care, even if Zoro knew the shit cook would surely give it to their witch of a navigator. It was just a ball of some fancy stone, after all. There are a gazillion of stones in the world. It was nothing special.

The bastard grinned mischievously, leaning towards Zoro with a very _uncomfortable _look. It was as if he _heard_ what was inside Zoro's mind. The swordsman kept his scowl, hoping his cheeks and blood wouldn't betray him.

"Are you giving this to me, huh, marimo?" Sanji lowered his voice, elbowing Zoro in his side. The swordsman responded with a low growl, shrugging the invasive elbow away.

"The fuck do you think you are? It's not as if the damn rock was mine."

Sanji held his gaze at the swordsman, keeping an unreadable expression on. Zoro was now leaning away uncomfortably, the stupid cook obviously invading his personal space. "Well." He finally decided to give back the comfortable distance between him and Zoro after a few heartbeats.

"Lina and Sayo didn't specify whom they were giving this to. I suppose it's agreeable that we give it to Nami-swan." Sanji said in a matter-of-factly tone that made Zoro's insides lurch.

_Of course _the shitty love cook would decide to give it to Nami. _Of course, _why would Zoro ever expect for the dense Cook to realize he meant to give it to _him?_ As much as Zoro hated to admit it, the damn cook was right in many places. The gem was given to _them_ as to give thanks for helping the sisters find the way to create the treasure. It wasn't like it was Zoro's in the first place, he had no right to decide about it. However, a silent voice in his heart screamed about how it was him who found it. Zoro made sure to bury that voice into oblivion.

"Like I said: I don't give a shit. Give it to whoever." Zoro waved a dismissive hand. "Now, get your skinny ass off the nest, as it's still my watch."

Sanji made a face, as he walked away. "Oi, oi, oi. Make sure you go to the kitchen later for dinner, moss head."

Zoro scrunched his nose at that. Give it to Sanji's single brain cell. "Whatever."

"I'm serious!" Sanji launched a kick over Zoro's shoulder, knowing fully well that the swordsman still had some of his injuries. Zoro still had his sharp reflexes as he deflected the kick with the sheath of Wado. Wood clashed against Sanji's heel that resonated around.

"I don't need to be told twice, dartbrow." Zoro pushed his leg away, as Sanji turned away, hands in his pockets.

The Cook made his way down the nest, making sure to throw Zoro a pointed look at which he rolled his eyes at. He walked towards the window and saw the cook talking to Brook. After the exchange, Zoro went back to his position a while ago, drawing Shuusui from her sheath with a sharp sound.

The thing with the Cook could be set aside for a while now. It wasn't like he was going anywhere. He would settle this thing sooner, as Zoro didn't like dwelling into confusing thumps of his damn heart whenever the shitty cook was around. This should be gone after a good nap, booze and probably a nice punch in the face because Zoro _definitely __**doesn't**__ like_ someone with a dartboard excuse of a brow.

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_**A/N: **_If somebody wants to be a beta, please contact me! 💕


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